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Later, Liu Bang was born proudly.

Think about it, everyone, hasn't Sima Qian made it very clear about Liu Bang's identity?Liu Bang is an illegitimate child.

It's just that Liu Bang's biological father is more powerful and a dragon.

Liu Bang is a hybrid of human and dragon.When later generations read this passage, they often smiled knowingly and didn't take it seriously, nor did they make fun of Liu Bang because he was the illegitimate son of a certain dragon.

Of course, some people may say that this is Liu Bang's self-myth, which is to create public opinion for Liu Bang's self-proclaimed "Fengtian Chengyun".

However, this just shows from another point of view that in the minds of the Han people, illegitimate children are not a big deal. If you are lucky and become the illegitimate child of a dragon, you can take advantage of it even more.

Coincidentally, Liu Bang's eldest son, Liu Fei, was also an illegitimate child.

When Liu Bang became emperor, Liu Fei was still entrusted as king.

Have you seen in the history books that the people of the Han Dynasty had a little contempt or resistance to Liu Fei's status as an illegitimate child?
Not only that, the well-known Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were undisputed illegitimate children, and the people of the Han Dynasty did not seem to have any contempt for them.

When Sima Qian explained the status of the illegitimate children of the two of them, he was completely flat, and he didn't feel that there was anything ulterior at all.

The Han Dynasty was a big era, and it was also an era when the entire nation had a broad vision and a broad mind. They basically did not have much personality discrimination against illegitimate children.

That being the case, people at that time would not say that a person was an illegitimate child in order to slander a person. At that time, there was no soil for making such rumors.Knowing this, we will understand that those views that the people of the Han Dynasty deliberately fabricated that Qin Shihuang was an illegitimate child to vent their anger are actually groundless.

Therefore, Sima Qian will not be mistaken for rumors.

Sima Qian may make mistakes, but at least on the issue of whether Qin Shihuang was an illegitimate child, he will not make mistakes for reasons that our descendants can imagine.

In this way, can we be sure that Qin Shihuang must be an illegitimate child?

We can't be so arbitrary, maybe Sima Qian has his own evidence, but we can no longer witness such evidence with our own eyes.

But in any case, the reasons used by later generations to refute Sima Qian are not tenable.

But if we only focus on the illegitimate child, it would be a kind of contempt for Qin Shihuang.

What we should pay more attention to is how the Qin Dynasty became strong and marched towards the road of conquest in the hands of Ying Zheng, and finally established the initial model of the entire Chinese territory.

When we look at Qin Shihuang, we should jump out of his personal charm and look at the people and things around him.

So, when it comes to Qin, who is it that cannot be separated?

Shang Yang, a statesman, reformer, thinker, representative of the Legalists during the Warring States period, a native of Wei, a descendant of the king of Wei, Ji's surname is Gongsun, so he is also called Wei Yang and Gongsun Yang.

Later, because of his meritorious service in the Battle of Hexi, he was granted the title of Shang in Shiwuyi, and he was named Shang Jun, so he was called Shang Yang.

Shang Yang "seldom good at the study of criminal names", specializing in the study of ruling the country by law, was greatly influenced by Li Kui, Wu Qi and others, and was a political reformer with great talent and boldness.

Shang Yang did not live in the same era as Qin Shihuang, Lu Buwei, and Li Si. When Qin Shihuang came to power, there were nearly 100 years of history between Qin Xiaogong, Qin Huiwen, Qin Wu, Qin Zhaoxiang, Qin Xiaowen, and Qin Zhuangxiang. The two reforms in 356 BC and 350 BC did not have the later powerful Qin Empire.

It can be seen that the reform and strengthening are of great significance.What kind of laws did Shang Yang, who insisted on reforms, change?

The first reform, one is to promulgate the law and formulate the law of joint sitting;
The second is to reward military achievements and encourage the Qin people to fight bravely;
The third is to emphasize agriculture and suppress poverty, develop agricultural production, and consolidate and develop feudal production relations;
The fourth is to establish a system of prefectures and counties, which are governed by officials directly sent by the monarch to strengthen the centralization of power.

The second reform, one is to abandon the well fields and open up fields;

The second is to establish county organizations, combining towns and villages to form counties, which are directly managed by officials sent by the state;
The third is to move the capital to Xianyang. In order to facilitate the development to the east of Hanguguan, Qin Xiaogong built a new capital in Xianyang according to Shang Yang's suggestion in 350 BC, and moved the capital from Liyang to Xianyang in the following year.

It can be seen that the above two reforms mainly focus on politics, economy, and military affairs, and the laws are relatively strict.

There is the terrible "joint sitting method", which is what is called "joint and several liability" now. At that time, it was not like now.

Yilian will connect a large area, also called "Zhulian", which was used by some rulers in later dynasties.

It seems that this law is a bit cruel and cruel, otherwise how can we control the common people and reflect the majesty of the law?

In terms of economy, "emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business" means that in that farming era, farmers had no food to eat, and they were recruited to fight every day.

In order to please the common people, it is necessary to develop agriculture and stabilize the hearts of the people. Only when farmers live and work in peace and contentment can they support officials and the army and do business well.

"Emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce" was an inevitable choice at that time.

In fact, to be truly wealthy, one must engage in business. Isn’t there a saying that “no business, no wealth”?Tao Zhugong, Fan Li, Lu Buwei, Hu Xueyan, etc. are all.However, Shang Yang considered it from stabilizing the country and people's hearts and reducing polarization.

Therefore, most people were happy and got the benefits of the reform, but the princes, clan relatives, nobles, and businessmen in the city hated this "ruthless" Shang Yang.

Originally, reform meant the redistribution of power and interests. Some families were happy while others were sad. In the "Spring and Autumn and Warring States" era of constant wars, there were no countries.

Qin Xiaogong, the main assistant of Shang Yang's reform, seems to be an enlightened king who can actively adopt Shang Yang's reform proposals.

To tell the truth, both the monarch and the reformers took huge risks in the reform at that time. Because they violated the interests of the clan and powerful, the reformers often even worked with their heads up.

In 338 BC, after Qin Xiaogong died, Shang Yang lost his backing, and King Qin Huiwen succeeded to the throne.

In the same year, Shang Yang was defeated and killed because he was framed by Gong Ziqian for treason.

Because, at that time, King Qin Huiwen was also in a dilemma.

Shang Yang's reform has been implemented for nearly 20 years, the reform has been on the right track, Shang Yang has completed his mission, and it is of little value to King Huiwen.

From the perspective of King Huiwen, Qin Xiaogong’s death led to the complete outbreak of the conflict between Shang Yang and the clan and nobles, which had been suppressed for many years. .

As the newly succeeded monarch, in order to ease the contradiction, it is obviously wiser to make a concession in this situation-executing Shang Yang than to offend the clan and nobles.

Regarding the cause of Shang Yang's death, in fact, he still did not escape the fate of many reformers since ancient times.

Ma Qian of Taishi Company made a six-character evaluation of Shang Yang in "Historical Records: Biography of Shang Jun": "Talent is mean and seldom kind."The laws enacted by Shang Yang are very harsh, and he almost disowns his relatives, which offends a lot.

The promulgation and implementation of the new law was opposed by many nobles and ministers.In the 16th year of Duke Xiao of Qin, Prince Tai Fu broke the law again.

Shang Yang said to Qin Xiaogong: "The laws and regulations of the country must be obeyed by everyone. If the people above cannot obey, the people below will not trust the court. If the prince breaks the law, his master should be punished."
As a result, Shang Yang convicted the prince's two masters, Gong Ziqian and Gongsun Jia, one cut off his nose, and the other tattooed his face.As a result, some nobles and ministers dare not violate the new law.

On the one hand, the enforcement of the law is merciless and offended many people. Of course, it is necessary to take risks, otherwise it will be difficult to achieve great things. The key to breaking Shang Yang is the crazy revenge of the oppressed nobles and ministers.

In the historical process of Qin's powerful reform, Shang Yang contributed a lot. He was great and deservedly died.This is also the result he can expect.

Because his changes are for the strength of the country and the happiness of the people.

For this reason, it will inevitably violate the interests of a few people such as nobles and those in power.Before the reform, Shang Yang also conducted a "popular test" before the reform. This is the famous story of "immigrating to wood and establishing faith".

At the beginning of the reform, Shang Yang wanted to test the public's attitude towards the reform in order to win the trust of the people and facilitate the smooth implementation of the new law.So Shang Yang sent someone to put a three-foot-long log in the downtown area, and ordered:

"Whoever can move the wood to the north gate will be rewarded ten gold." The common people came to see it one after another, but they were all skeptical, and no one moved.Shang Yang increased the reward to fifty gold, and everyone became more suspicious: Qin State had never offered such a heavy reward.One person didn't believe in evil, thinking that although there were not so many bonuses, there must be some.

He picked up the wood and moved to the north gate, followed by many spectators.Shang Yang cashed in all the bonuses, and everyone believed: Shang Yang's orders must be followed!
After creating this publicity and momentum, Shang Yang promulgated the new law the next day and made the new law implemented smoothly. "Warring States Policies and Qin Policies" records: "The women and babies of Qin all speak the laws of the Shang monarch."

At that time, Qin Xiaogong planned to carry out the reform, but he was afraid that the people of the country would talk about it, so he hesitated.

Qin Xiaogong convened a court meeting and ordered his ministers to discuss the matter. Shang Yang advised Qin Xiaogong, saying: "If you are hesitant to act, you will not make a name for yourself. If you are hesitant to act, you will not succeed. Besides, behaviors that exceed ordinary people will be regarded by the world." Criticism; people who have unique insights will definitely be ridiculed by ordinary people. Stupid people don’t understand what’s going on, but smart people can foresee what’s going to happen in advance.”
Shang Yang also said: "There is no fixed way to govern the country. It is beneficial to the development of the country to not follow the past laws. Shang Tang and Zhou Wu Wang won the world if they did not follow the past laws. The Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty perished because they followed the old system.

Those who oppose the old law cannot be criticized, but those who follow the old rituals are not worthy of praise. "Qin Xiaogong very much agrees with this point of view.

Ten years after the implementation of the reform, the state of Qin became more and more prosperous and powerful. Even the emperor of Zhou sent envoys to deliver sacrificed meat to Duke Xiao of Qin, and named him "Fang Bo".The state of Wei had to cede the land in Hexi and move the capital to Daliang.

Shang Yang not only made the country strong and the people rich, but also had excellent military command skills.

It is the wish of Qin Xiangong and Qin Xiaogong to regain the lost land in Hexi and restore the hegemony of Qin Mugong.

After two reforms, the Qin State was powerful, and Shang Yang, as the general who recovered Hexi, showed his military and diplomatic skills in the war.In 351 BC, Shang Yang led his troops to surround and occupy Guyang.
The political, economic, and military strength of the Qin State laid a solid foundation for the later Qin King Yingzheng to rule the country.

But the life of a generation of hero Shang Yang was not perfect. Instead, he dug a grave for himself, and finally died extremely miserable.

This may be a historical inevitability, and Lu Buwei and Li Si, who later made great contributions to Qin Shihuang's unification of the world, also ended up in the same way.

Even Qin Shihuang, the generation of the first emperor who achieved great success for thousands of years, died in the end without knowing why, leaving only a "Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum of the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang" known as the eighth wonder of the world to the world.

Here, although Shang Yang was framed and killed by the royal family and nobles at that time, Shang Yang is worthy of being a successful reform politician in ancient China and the most influential reformer. Many, many successes.

In short, it is precisely because of Shang Yang's reform that Qin State got rid of the poor and backward situation and laid the foundation for Qin Shihuang to unify the world. It is also because of reformers like Shang Yang that the progress and development of the whole society can be continuously promoted.

Shang Yang may have flaws in his personality, but how many people have he spent his whole life and even sacrificed his life to promote social change and progress?Shang Yang, a reformer who dedicated himself to reform, should always be respected and remembered by history.